SEPTEMBER 2020 | NEWSLETTER |
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SEPTEMBER 2020 | A NOTE FROM TONY "T.J." MORICE
HEATING UP OUR LOCAL ECONOMY WITH BIOMASS
It’s hard to believe summer is over and that we’re heading into Fall/Winter 2020. Just this week frost came to us in some Midwest areas so the transition has begun.
In the HTM July Newsletter, Jeremy shared how important wood markets are to our local communities economically and how biomass heating is a part of that. I’d like to share a couple thoughts in light of recent information.
AIMING FOR BETTER MARKET PRICES
Just this week, the international organization SVEBIO shared this chart about trends of the average woodchip pricing. While this trend may not be indicative of all countries in all markets, it’s a good example to expound on the affects the biomass market has in rural, local economies. Just think if you’re a saw mill that relies on consistency of wood chip by products revenues, what does such a trend do to your revenues?
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Conversely, what does such a drop does to the cost structures of infeed costs to processors using this resource for their products whether they be pulp, paper, energy or pellets? The more stable any market, the better for the manufacturers/suppliers as well as the users/consumers in the long term.
GROWING THE BIOMASS MARKET AND LOCAL ECONOMY
Biomass utilization in heating plays an important and growing role in this consistent use. While our HTM Vision Report and study by Future Metrics was developed some time ago, the priorities remain the same today.
With so many areas in the Midwest without access to natural gas supply lines, we have a greater opportunity to show biomass as cost-effective and efficient alternative heating option for our region. We can heat the Midwest region with wood, chips, briquettes and pellets while providing a continued, important, market growth opportunity to stabilize the supply and demand of the local biomass resources that keep our local, rural economies strong.
Stay engaged in this effort. Stay connected with manufacturers, processors and/or organizations that would benefit from staying current on these facts or connect us with them. Much is left to do and yet the opportunities to utilize the stored solar in our abundance of properly managed forests for clean heat is immense.
Enjoy the colors of Fall!
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AUTHOR:
Tony "T.J." Morice
TNT Ventures LLC
Liaison to the HTM Secretary/Treasurer
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UPCOMING EVENT
- National Bioenergy Day - October 21
CURRENT EVENTS
- The Debate Over Burning Dead Trees to Create Biomass Energy
SEPTEMBER SPOTLIGHT RESOURCES
- STREAM: How Biomass Works
- DOWNLOAD: Fire Salvage Program Case Study
BIOMASS AND ECONOMY
- Funding Available for Sustainable Agriculture Project
- Stove Repair Relief Fund
BIOMASS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
- Residential Wood Stove Standards Now Effective in Minnesota
- Pellet Vs. Coal Power
MORE WAYS TO GET BIOMASS
- Do you Tweet?
- Magazines You Don’t Want to Miss
- Become an Action Team Volunteer
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HTM STEERING COMMITTEE
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Bruno Zagar* - President
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Jeremy Mortl* - Vice President
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T.J. Morice* - Secretary/Treasurer
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Brian Brashaw* - Liaison to the Steering Committee
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Stacy Cook*
- William Cook
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Sabina Dhungana*
- Joseph Donnell
- Becky Philipp
- Tim Portz - National Rep
- Ben Rose
- Adam Sherman - National Rep
- Jill Thibert
* Executive Members
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National Bioenergy Day
October 21, 2020
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The Debate Over Burning Dead Trees to Create Biomass Energy
JANE BRAXTON LITTLE | WIRED MAGAZINE
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Jonathan Kusel owns three pickups and a 45-foot truck for hauling woodchip bins. He operates a woodchip yard and a 35-kilowatt biomass plant that burns dead trees, and he runs a crew marking trees for loggers working in national forests.
Those are a lot of blue-collar credentials for a UC Berkeley PhD sociologist known for his documentation of how the decline of the timber industry affects rural communities. What drove Kusel into a side business—logging small and dead trees and burning them in biomass boilers—is fear of fire. In 2007, the 65,000-acre Moonlight Fire blew flaming embers onto his lawn near Taylorsville, California, as he readied his family to evacuate.
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SEPTEMBER SPOTLIGHT RESOURCES |
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SHAREABLE VIDEO - HOW BIOMASS WORKS
HOWARTH TIMBER
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If we grow enough biomass to replace what is being used we have a sustainable system it would even be possible to Reduce atmospheric Carbon-dioxide using this model |
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VIDEO TOPICS
- Getting close to carbon neutral
- Biomass vs. Fossil Fuels
- Biomass Life-cycle
- Scaling up Biomass
- Sustainable Energy
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FIRE SALVAGE PROGRAM CASE STUDY
WOOD PELLET ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
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PACIFIC BIOENERGY LEADS RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP THROUGH FIRE SALVAGE PROGRAM
Pacific Bioenergy’s (PacBio) salvage and reforestation program is demonstrating the important contribution a strong, competitive bioenergy sector can make in advancing sustainable forest management and contributing to a low-carbon economy.
In 2015, the Bobtail Lake fire burned more than 25,000 hectares of land west of Prince George, British Columbia. While the fire-damaged trees that remain standing after a fire moves through an area can sometimes be salvaged by sawmills and converted into lumber, in this instance the burning and charring was so severe that they could not be used for this purpose.
Before the arrival of the wood pellet sector, the burned trees from the Bobtail Lake fire would have been left to decay over many years, slowly emitting carbon to the atmosphere and wasting this valuable resource...
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Funding Available for Sustainable Agriculture Projects
MN DEPT OF AGRICULTURE
$200,000 in grants available for farmers to test new ideas St. Paul, MN — Farmers and Minnesota nonprofit and educational organizations focused on testing new ideas in sustainable agriculture are encouraged to apply for a Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration (SustAg) Grant.
The application period is now open. All applications must be received by 4:00 Central Time on Thursday, December 10, 2020.
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Stove Repair Relief Fund
ALLIANCE FOR GREEN HEAT
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Stove Repair Relief Fund to Aid Families During Coronavirus Pandemic
The Alliance for Green Heat and Stove Parts for Less have set up a fund to help families keep their pellet stoves running during the Pandemic.
If you are out of work or from a low-income household, you are likely eligible for a 50% reduction in the price of pellet stove parts for orders up to $500. We expect this pandemic to severely impact rural wood heating communities for up to a year, and many may turn to wood heating even more than in previous years.
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BIOMASS AND THE ENVIRONMENT |
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Residential Wood Stove Standards Now Effective in Minnesota
STAFF REPORTER | INTERNATIONAL FALLS JOURNAL
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The EPA proposal to extend the compliance deadline for wood heater emissions has caused some confusion in the industry, with some dealers apparently believing they can continue to sell non-2020 certified stoves until EPA sorts it out.
The 2 or 2.5 gram an hour standard is now the law in all states for stoves.
With the 2020 standard now in effect, new wood stoves that are not 2020 certified can no longer be sold or installed in Minnesota. The standards don’t affect fireplaces or wood heating systems already in use.
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Pellet Vs. Coal Power
WOOD PELLET ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
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Coal power has long been tempting because it is often the cheapest fuel on the market. Yet that only makes sense if environmental costs are excluded.
Coal currently produces 1/5th of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Coal emits a whopping 125gCO2e/MJ (grams of carbon dioxide equivalent released per megajoule of energy produced). That’s compared to 15 gCO2e/MJ for wood pellets.
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MORE WAYS TO GET BIOMASS NEWS |
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Find Heating the Midwest on
your favorite online platform
Follow Heating the Midwest to find out about the latest
news, events, and action team updates!
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Do you tweet? tag @HTM_BiomassHeat if you have Biomass news for us! |
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BiomassMagazine.com
- Printed Magazine
- Free digital Magazine
- Free e-Newsletters
- Free Webinars
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Pellet Mill Magazine Free to U.S. Subscribers.
- Printed Magazine
- Free digital Magazine
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Heating the Midwest- Become an Action Team Volunteer!
If you have a specific area of interest related to biomass thermal, we welcome your participation in one or all of HTM’s three action teams-Biomass Combustion Technologies, Biomass Policy & Benefits, and Biomass Resources & Demographics. Is your time often stretched? No problem. Time committed to the HTM effort is volunteer time. Joint action team calls are held monthly via conference call, and calls are limited to one hour in respect of members’ time and busy schedules. Members may choose to volunteer more of their time individually to support Action Team specific projects as they arise.
Individuals with a passion for biomass thermal energy are being sought to lead the Biomass Resources & Demographics Action Team or the Biomass Combustion Technologies Action Team. This is a great opportunity to share your leadership skills in furthering the mission of HTM and to directly connect with the biomass industry sector and other agencies—all with a goal of growing market opportunities for biomass and specifically for biomass as a fuel for thermal heating and cooling, and combined heat and power.
The work of the action teams involves developing “boots on the ground” projects for spurring action, discussing industry challenges in each sector and how to possibly address, networking and supporting the overall goals and vision of the Heating the Midwest with Renewable Biomass initiative in an effort to grow demand and expand marketing opportunities in the biomass thermal sector, and create awareness of biomass thermal.
WHEN:
HTM Joint Action Team calls are held, as needed,
the Third Tuesday of each month at 1:30 p.m. CST
Additional action team calls are scheduled on demand.
*NOTE: ACTION TEAM CALLS ARE ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. STAY TUNED*
For more detailed information, feel free to contact Becky Philipp (bphilipp@auri.org), HTM Steering committee member.
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BROUGHT TO YOU BY HEATING THE MIDWEST
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